


A Fool In Love

by DobbyRocksSocks



Series: WinterIronShield [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Insecure Bucky Barnes, Insecure Tony, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Jarvis lives, M/M, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Steve fucked up but we still love him, Tony Angst, Tony is Confused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 22:09:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18647059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DobbyRocksSocks/pseuds/DobbyRocksSocks
Summary: Tony and Steve had a... thing.Until Bucky was found, and then Steve returned to his long lost love and that was all... fine. Except it wasn't because Tony was a fool in love and it hurt.With helpful friends, Tony starts to get himself together, he build's Bucky a new arm because the one Hydra gave him was a travesty - an actual offence to science, and everything is fine.But then Bucky and Steve are acting weird and Tony is just so done with this drama.





	A Fool In Love

Tony didn’t really know how it happened. Or… he knew how it happened, but he didn’t know why he kept letting it happen. The first time, it had been pity, or sympathy, or perhaps even empathy. 

Tony knew what it felt like to need something to remind you that you were alive. 

Sometimes Steve had nights when he was cold and nothing but physical touch would warm him up. Sure, that could be solved with a hug or a hand on his shoulder, or even lounging together in front of the TV, but after that first time, Steve just seemed to… expect it? Want it? 

Regardless, they were having semi regular sex and Tony didn’t really know how to feel about that. 

He wouldn’t turn Steve away. He couldn’t, because he was a fool in love and to turn Steve away would hurt himself far more than it would the super soldier. 

So when Steve came to him, shivering with imagined cold and a haunted look in his eyes, Tony didn’t even try and pretend that he didn’t know what Steve wanted. 

Of course he knew. 

He just wished he could believe it was more.

… 

“Did you hear the news?” 

Tony raised his eyebrow at Clint, crossing the kitchen to the coffee maker. 

“Barnes, you know, Cap’s old compadre? He’s alive and kicking.” 

Tony blinked. “No. No I  _ didn't  _ hear that. Is that why Cap hasn’t been around the tower lately?” 

The knowing look in Clint’s eyes made Tony uncomfortable. He hated to feel like his practiced nonchalance was wasted. 

“Uh huh. So I’ve heard it, Barnes broke Hydra conditioning to reconnect with Cap, and the two of them have been off, erm,  _ reconnecting,  _ if you know what I mean.” 

Tony snorted, hoping the sound would cover the noise of his heart  _ breaking into tiny pieces.  _

“Well, good for them. That’ll be a love story for the ages, won’t it?” 

He grabbed his coffee mug and raised it slightly to Clint before he left the kitchen to escape back to his lab where he could break down in his own comfort and privacy. 

… 

Tony did what Tony did best. 

He avoided. 

Steve returned to the tower, full of life and beaming happiness, Bucky in tow looking uncertain but hopeful of a home with the Avengers. 

Tony couldn’t… well, he certainly wasn’t going to be the one to tell Steve and Bucky no, was he? 

He could only imagine the hurt on Steve’s face if Tony dared say that his long lost love wasn’t allowed to move into the tower. Even if Tony had the right to do that, he didn’t have the heart for it. 

So he hid away, and he buried himself in work and he pretended that he was fine. 

Tony was good at pretending, or at least he liked to tell himself that. 

Clint, Nat and Bruce were there for him, always ready with a soft cuddle or a kiss to the cheek, or even just for him to sit with in the communal areas and watch movies. Bruce was always willing to distract Tony with science, and Clint even offered to teach Tony to shoot with the bow and arrow on the shooting range. 

He knew he was failing at pretending he was fine, but at least they were kind enough to not actually say anything. Steve was so oblivious to anything outside of his Bucky-Bubble that he clearly didn’t notice anything, so it all worked out fine. 

Steve was happy and Tony wanted that for him. 

Even if it couldn’t be with Tony.

… 

“Tony?” 

Tony looked away from the coffee machine with confused, bloodshot eyes. “Hmm?” 

“Are you… alright?” 

Tony just frowned and turned his attention back to the coffee machine, which had finally,  _ finally,  _ filled his cup with the caffeine-y goodness that would make his brain work again. 

Seriously, who decided that sleep needed to be a thing anyway? Tony was doing just fine without it! 

He drank the first cup full in one long gulp, ignoring the heat, and then placed his cup back under the machine. Only when he had a second cup full did he turn back to look at Steve. 

“I’m fine, Cap, how are you?” 

“When did you last sleep,” Steve asked, his brow furrowing with concern as he stepped closer. 

Tony swerved away from him smoothly, putting himself closer to the elevators. 

“Not really sure what that’s got to do with anything,” Tony replied cheerfully. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to head back to work. Things to see, people to build, you know how it goes.” 

“Think you mean that the other way around,” Steve murmured, looking fondly amused. 

The look on his face made Tony’s heart  _ ache _ . 

He lifted his cup in salute and made his way towards the elevators, only to be called back seconds before he made his escape. 

“Oh, hey, Buck is having a few issues with his arm, it’s okay if I send him down for you to have a look at it, right?” 

Excuses of being busy were on the tip of Tony’s tongue when he made the mistake of looking up and seeing the hopeful look on Steve’s face. 

“I… sure, Cap. Send him down whenever and I’ll make some time.” 

Tony stepped into the elevator before Steve could say anymore and Jarvis closed the doors and took him down to his lab. 

“Any chance Pep need’s me to go to Japan, J?” he asked, as he entered the lab and the doors closed behind him. 

“Unlikely, I’m afraid, Sir,” Jarvis replied. 

Tony smiled sadly. “Thought not. Ah well, pull up the last schematics we were going over J, and put some music on, eh? I’d rather not be able to hear my own thoughts at the moment.”  

…

“Hi.” 

Tony startled and turned around to see Barnes standing by the door to the workshop, looking decidedly awkward. 

“Uh. Hi?” 

“Stevie said to… he said you could maybe look at my arm? It’s been hurting for a few days and—” 

“Right,” Tony interrupted. “I, yeah. Erm. Come in and make yourself comfortable, and I’ll be with you in a few minutes.” 

He waved absently at the sofa and turned back to the hologram he’d been working on. He assumed Barnes did as Tony had told him to do but he didn’t actually look and see. When he’d finally finished up with what he was doing, he stretched his back and then turned to look at Barnes, only to find him fast asleep. 

“Huh. How long has it been since he got here, J?” 

“Half an hour, Sir.” 

Tony nodded, and stood up. “Tell Cap his bud is asleep down here and to come get him, would you, J? I’m heading out. And ask Bruce to take a look at Barnes’ arm. He should be able to fix it.” 

“Sir—” 

Tony shook his head and JARVIS fell silent, wrapping the suit around Tony instead. Tony wasn’t sure what it was about Barnes falling asleep in his lab that had sent all of his nerves on edge, but he didn’t  _ like  _ it. 

He initiated the blasters and left the garage through the Iron Man shoot he’d built in so he had a direct exit for the suit from the lab, and as soon as he was up in the air, spinning up to the sky, he felt better. Maybe he should go and see Rhodey for a while? 

It’d been a while since he’d updated the War Machine armour and it would give him an excuse to just… not be at the tower for a little while. 

Win win, really. 

… 

“So, are you going to tell me what you’re hiding from?” Rhodey asked. 

The two of them were slumped on the sofa, Tony’s head resting against Rhodey’s shoulder. He’d been there for three days, and he’d had numerous calls from the team. He’d had JARVIS relay the message that he was fine, just busy with Rhodes, and he’d be back before they knew it. 

He just needed to… not, for a while. With any of it. 

He butted Rhodey’s shoulder with a whine. 

“Tones,” Rhodey murmured. “Tell me what’s going on.” 

Tony closed his eyes for a minute. “Steve brought Barnes back to the tower, I think I told you that?” 

Rhodey nodded to confirm he had.  

“Well, it turns out, that while I’m super happy for him to have his long lost love back… it kinda hurts to actually… see it. It just… we didn’t even have a conversation. He just… stopped coming to see me because he had Barnes back and I… I deserved a conversation, didn’t I?” 

Rhodey wrapped his arm around Tony. “You deserve so much more than that, Tones. I’m gonna come kick his ass.” 

Tony snorted. “You’re gonna kick Captain America’s ass?” 

Rhodey grumbled and shook his head. “No, I’m gonna kick Steve Rogers’ ass for hurting my best friend.” 

Shaking his head, Tony just burrowed closer. “Noooo. It’s not… his fault. I get it, I really do. He and Barnes are a romance from the story books and that’s all… fine. I just… needed to not see it for a little while.” 

Arms tightening, Rhodey pulled Tony closer. “You can stay with me for as long as you want, Tones.” 

… 

Returning to the tower wasn’t easy, but the break had done Tony good. He’d been away for almost two weeks, and having some time for just himself and with Rhodey had been wonderful. He’d even managed to get some sleep, with Rhodey curled around him to keep away the nightmares. 

“We were getting ready to send a search party out for you!” Clint called, when Tony stepped out of the elevator. 

The whole team were gathered on the sofas, and Tony looked over them all, a small smile on his face. “You miss me, Merida?” 

Clint pouted exaggeratedly and nodded, making grabby hands at Tony.  

Tony laughed and dropped onto the sofa between him and Nat, leaning against Clint happily. Clint cuddled him tightly and rested his chin on Tony’s shoulder. 

“You feeling better?” he asked, tone low and for Tony’s ears only. 

Tony turned and nuzzled Clints cheek. “I am.” 

Nat patted her legs for Tony to get comfier and he grinned at her. As much as he’d enjoyed his time with Rhodey, this was home too, surrounded by his team. Clint and Natasha had been there for him through the whole thing with Steve, and he was more grateful to the pair of them than he could ever verbalise. 

Luckily, them being super-sneaky-spies, they seemed to know without him having to find the words. 

“It’s good to see you back, Tones,” Bruce said from the armchair he was sitting in, smiling over at the three of them. “Especially since you look like you actually got some sleep while you were away.” 

“You’ve not been sleeping?” Steve asked, before Tony could reply. “Why not? Is something wrong?” 

Tony twisted himself so he could look at the super soldiers sitting on the loveseat. “Everything is fine, Cap. Just regularly scheduled insomnia, nothing to worry about.” 

Steve nodded, but he was still frowning. “Did you have a good time with Colonel Rhodes?” 

“I always have a good time with my Honeybear.” 

Tony turned to the screen and snuggled himself further into Clint and Nat. He wasn’t lying, he was feeling a little better about the situation, but seeing them together… that pain wasn’t just going to go away. 

… 

“You left because I fell asleep here?” Barnes asked the following day. 

Tony jumped and put a hand over the reactor as he turned to look at Barnes. “I’m going to order bells for the lot of you, Jesus, I have a heart condition dammit!” 

Barnes looked sheepishly apologetic and ducked his head. The blush most certainly wasn’t charming at all, Tony told himself firmly. 

“But, no, I didn’t leave because you fell asleep. It just so happened that you were asleep when I decided. You looked like you needed it so I didn’t wanna wake you up. Bruce fixed you up though, right?” 

“He said it was a temporary fix,” Barnes said, shrugging. “He said you’d want to see the scans and you’d see what he was talking about.” 

Tony nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll have a look at them when I go down to the workshop. It’s not hurting at the moment, right?” 

Barnes shook his head. “No. It’s… okay.” 

“Alright, well, great talk and all but—” 

“Do you not want me here?” 

Tony blinked. “If I didn’t want you here, I wouldn’t have said Cap could bring you, would I?” he hedged. 

Barnes slumped  against the counter and nodded. 

Tony left the kitchen, feeling slightly wrongfooted. He had no idea what was going through Barnes’ head. Then again, he supposed he could see why the man thought it was his fault that Tony had left. 

… 

The scans of Barnes’ arm were a  _ mess.  _

“This is a goddamn travesty!” Tony raged, gesturing wildly at the holograms. “They can’t even call this mess technology, goddamn heathens! It’s offensive; I’m actually offended.” 

Bruce chuckled. “I figured you’d want to see them for yourself. Think you can fix it?” 

“Fix it?” Tony asked, horrified. “It needs  _ melting. _ No, I’m not touching that, I’m offended it’s even in my tower.” 

“You… you’re just gonna leave it?” 

Tony frowned. “No. What part of ‘I’m offended it’s in my tower’ didn’t you get, Brucie Babe? I’m gonna build him a new one.” 

Bruce blinked. “Of course you are.” 

“I’m gonna need you for the connections, and that connection port is ridiculous as well, so we’ll have to contact Helen and see if she can help with that because the nerve damage is horrific.” 

“You, uh, might wanna speak to the owner of the arm before you make plans, Tones. He might not  _ want  _ a new arm.” 

Tony stared. “Right. I… should do that. Unless… you could ask him?” 

Bruce chuckled. “It would be better coming from you, since you’re the one that’s going to be making it.” 

“Ehhhh, but he always looks like I killed his puppy when I speak to him and it makes me feel bad even though I don’t actually know what I’m supposed to have done.” 

“Pretty sure he still thinks he forced you to leave.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “I haven’t got time to repeat myself every time I have a conversation with him, Brucie, how do I fix it?” 

“Well. Maybe if you stop avoiding him and Steve… that could help?” Bruce suggested softly. “Although, if it’s making it easier for you to not be around them…” he trailed off and shrugged. “Just, they’ll get over it. If it’s better for you to avoid, then you avoid them, okay?” 

Tony sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. Then he looked back at the holographic scan and pouted. “I will  _ not  _ have that mess in  _ my  _ tower, Brucie. I’ll just… pull on my big boy pants and deal. It’ll be fine. It’s all fine.” 

… 

“So… your arm is an offence to technology and I want to build you a new one,” Tony said in greeting as he stepped into the gym. Steve and Barnes were on the treadmills, since the rain outside had put them off going on their usual run. 

Barnes stumbled, and almost fell off the treadmill before he gained his footing and stepped onto the sides. Tony tried to hold his laughter, he really, really did, but a little snort escaped and he bit his lip awkwardly. 

Steve chucked, breaking the awkward silence. 

“Um, okay?” Barnes said. “What’s… wrong with it?” 

“It would be so much easier to say what’s right with it, cause then we could just sit in silence,” Tony groused. “This is why Brucie only did a temporary fix. He knew what my reaction was going to be. But, well, it’s a big job and it’ll mean a lot of time in the lab for you, and also we’ll have to fetch in Helen Cho to work on the nerve connections with me and the housing on your shoulder and—” 

“Breathe, Tony,” Steve interrupted fondly. 

“I, uh, whatever you think is best?” Barnes offered. “I, uh, will I have to be put to sleep, because I don’t—” 

Tony shook his head. “If you don’t want to be put to sleep, we can do…. Well, the housing would be a little awkward but we can work around it. I’ll speak to Helen about it when I call her, and… we can work around anything that might… trigger you.” 

“Aren’t you too busy for this?” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “If I didn’t do anything I was too busy for, nothing would ever get done. So, I’ll speak with Helen and then… you could come to the lab later so I can get a better look at the housing and scan both of your arms so we can get the proportions down on paper at least.” 

Barnes nodded. “Can, uh, Stevie come with me?” 

Tony frowned. “Sure? I… I’m not gonna hurt you, you know?” 

Blushing furiously, Barnes replied, “last time I came to your lab you left for two weeks. I… don’t want that to happen again.” 

Tony threw his hands in the air and turned around, heading back towards the door. “I’ve told you that wasn’t your fault, Barnes,” he called over his shoulder. “I’ll have JARVIS send for you when I’m ready.” 

…

Tony took the scans he needed and sent them to Helen. Until she looked at them and let him know what could be done with the arm housing, they couldn’t go any further, so Tony managed to make some headway in his backlog of projects. 

He even showed up for a day of meetings, which made Pepper smile that little smile that she’d always saved just for Tony when he did something she liked. 

When he got home, tired but happy, it was to find Rhodey sitting in the armchair that Bruce usually occupied. 

“Sour Patch!” he greeted happily, flopping down across his lap to burrow against him. “I missed you!” 

“Rude,” Clint complained. “You’re all cuddles with me until Rhodey turns up and then I turn into the invisible man.” 

Tony raised his arms and made grabby hands at Clint. Rhodey groaned as Clint grinned and joined them on the chair.  

“Puppy pile!” Tony announced, making Nat and Clint laugh. 

“How about we puppy pile on the sofa,” Rhodey wheezed out. “So I’m not squashed dead.” 

Tony nodded eagerly, and they moved themselves to the sofa, all four of them tangling up together. 

That was how Steve and Bucky found them, an hour later, with Clint and Tony throwing popcorn at the tv. 

“Colonel Rhodes,” Steve greeted with a nod. “I don’t think you’ve met Buck?” 

“Cap,” Rhodey replied flatly. “Barnes.” 

“I’m glad you’re here,” Tony said, pointing at Barnes. “I need another scan of your flesh arm. You got ten to do it now, before we start another movie?” 

Bucky nodded, and Tony wiggled his way out of the tangle of limbs. Pointing at Clint, he said, “do not steal my space.” Clint made a kissy noise at him. Tony pointed at Rhodey. “And you, behave yourself.” 

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, Tones,” Rhodey replied, swatting at him. 

“Uh huh. Come on, Barnes. The rest of you should be productive and order some food while we’re gone. Pepper is a slavedriver and hasn’t fed me all day, I’m starving.” 

The elevator had barely closed before Rhodey was sitting up properly and turning his attention to Steve. Clint and Nat shared a look before they sat back to watch. They loved all of their team, Steve included, but everyone agreed that Steve hadn’t gone about any of this in the right way. 

“I don’t care if you’re happy now that you’ve got Barnes back, if you ever hurt Tones again, I will end you, do I make myself clear, Rogers?” 

Steve blinked. “What?” 

“You heard me,” Rhodey snapped. “You might have just been using Tones to warm your bed, but you could have at least had a conversation with him when you came back to the tower. You discarded him and you didn’t even have the decency to speak to him about it. 

“Tones is a better person than me, because he’s just happy you’re happy. Personally, my  _ only  _ priority here is Tony, so  _ tread carefully,  _ Captain, because I am  _ watching  _ you.” 

Steve nodded, ashen. “I. I meant to talk to him, I swear. I just… I guess I got distracted and then… I just didn’t. I… I fucked up, didn’t I?” 

Rhodey quirked an eyebrow and didn’t reply. He turned his attention to JARVIS and fell into conversation with Nat about what they should eat. 

Steve was quiet for the rest of the night, even when Tony and Bucky returned. Tony cast suspicious looks at Rhodey occasionally, but Rhodey just wrinkled his nose and nodded back to the tv. 

… 

“I fucked up, Buck.” 

Bucky turned on his side to look at Steve. They were laying in bed together in silence. 

“Are you finally going to tell me what happened when I was with Tony in the lab last night?” 

“You know before I found you that Tony and I had a… thing?” 

“Uh huh.” 

“Well, I didn’t speak to him after. After I got you back, or… well, even when I was looking for you. I kept meaning to, but then I’d get distracted and then I just… forgot about it, and I never actually spoke to him and—” 

“Jesus, Stevie,” Bucky groaned. “No wonder Rhodes was looking at us like we’d kicked a puppy! You know you’ve gotta speak to Tony, don’t you?” 

“I, yeah, of course, I just… what am I supposed to say now?” Steve rubbed a hand over his face. “I messed this up so bad and I don’t know how to fix it. How do I apologise for this?” 

Bucky was silent for a moment. “Have you thought that maybe you didn’t speak to him because you didn’t  _ want  _ to end whatever you two were doing?” 

“What? No, Buck, you know I love you—” 

“I’m not questioning that,” Bucky said firmly. “I do know you love me, and I love you. I’m saying, maybe you love him too.” 

Steve stared up at the ceiling for a long moment. “I, no, I can’t, I don’t, do I?” 

“Only you can answer that question, Stevie.” 

… 

“Okay, so, we’ve figured out how to do this,” Tony said, gesturing between himself, Helen and Bucky’s shoulder. “We can keep you awake to take off the arm and put a new housing in place, and it shouldn’t hurt. Between the painkillers we designed for Steve, and Helen’s cradle, it should all be okay. But it does mean that you’re going to be without an arm for about two weeks. Are you okay with that?” 

Bucky nodded slowly. “I… yeah. I can do that.” 

Tony nodded. “Okay, well, we’ll start making the preparations then. We’ll start in,” he looked at Helen. “A week?” 

She nodded thoughtfully. “That should be doable.” 

Tony grinned, and then nodded to the holograms. “Alright, the fun stuff then. Colours, emblems, skin texture or metal… come and make some decisions, Barnes.” 

“I… you can… can you make it look real?” Barnes asked. 

Tony could see the wistfulness in his eyes and knew he had a winner. “We can make it look relatively real,” he replied. “Of course you’ll be able to feel the difference, and a close examination would obviously show it as different, but… just in passing, it would look like a normal arm.” 

“That. Please.” 

Tony nodded. “Okay. Tattoos? They can be airbrushed on without any problem while it’s being fabricated.” 

“I… can you add one of Stevie’s designs?” 

Tony nodded. “Sure can. Just fetch it down before Thursday and we can put it on wherever you want it.” 

“I… thank you, Tony. That’s amazing. All of it, it’s all amazing.” 

“You’re good inspiration, Barnes.” 

… 

“I… think I love him, Buck,” Steve whispered, a few nights later. The two were cuddling on the sofa in their room. “I’m so sorry.” 

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Bucky replied quietly. “I get it… especially with him. He’s a lovable guy.” 

“I… yeah. He is. Do you?”

“No,” Bucky replied shaking his head. “But… I like him. And… I can see how easy it would be to fall in love with him.” 

Steve sighed. “Even if… even if you did, and we decided too… he’s never going to trust me again, Buck. Not after what I did.” 

“He might, if you told him what happened,” Bucky said softly. “I don’t… what if he only wants you?” 

“Oh, Buck,” Steve murmured, tugging Bucky closer. “We do this together or not at all, okay?” 

“And if he  _ doesn’t  _ want me?” 

“Then we don’t do it at all, I promise.” 

… 

Steve and Barnes were acting weird and Tony didn’t like it. 

They were glowering at Clint whenever Tony joined him for a cuddle. They were always around, like even more than usual, and they were always asking Tony if he wanted to do things with them. It was  _ weird.  _

Not only that, but whenever Barnes came down to the workshop to see Tony about his arm, which was now fitted and in it’s final stages of work, Steve was suddenly always along, like he didn’t trust Tony with Barnes or something. 

Sure, Tony thought Barnes was attractive—he’s got eyes, okay—but that didn’t mean that Tony didn’t have any self control. Maybe Steve thought that because of their history that Tony was just… easy, or slutty or… Tony shook his head. 

Whatever was going on with them, he didn’t like it. 

“Tony, do you want to—” 

“No,” Tony snapped. “I don’t want to go to dinner with you, or watch a movie with you, or go to the  _ park  _ with you! I don’t know what the pair of you are up to, or why you’ve decided to try and fuck with me, but it stops now, do you understand me?” 

He was glaring at them, and despite the size difference between him and two super soldiers, they seemed to wilt under his gaze. 

They backed up and left the workshop with their heads down, and Tony huffed. “Lockdown, J.” 

“Yes, Sir.” 

… 

“What did you two idiots do?” 

Steve looked up from the table to see Nat leaning against the kitchen counter.  

“Nothing,” he replied, shaking his head. “It’s… nothing.” 

“Did you even tell Tony you’re sorry before you decided to try and woo him without actually telling him, or… did you just expect him to accept it and move on?” 

Steve closed his eyes. Natasha sighed. 

“Steve, at the moment, Tony thinks you don’t value him as a human being. He thinks that you just used him as a warm body until Barnes was found and then you discarded him without even speaking to him. Now, when Barnes is in the workshop, you’re always there too, and  _ I  _ know that’s because you want to be around him, but how do you think it looks to Tony?” 

“Am I ever going to not fuck up where Tony’s concerned?” 

“You just need to learn to communicate with him, Steve. Tony needs directness, because he’s a genius, but he’s also insecure and a little clingy and a little needy and he takes things very personally. He’s got no idea what the pair of you are up to with him at the moment, and you need to sit down with him and  _ talk.”  _

Steve nodded and squared his shoulders. Nat was right, and he should have done it before any of this started. 

“Take Bucky with you,” Nat added. “This includes him too, and Tony needs to see that with his own eyes. And for the love of all things holy, take it slow. Do not just jump into bed with him because he  _ will  _ think you only want him for sex.” 

“Right… right, that’s… thanks, Nat.” 

She nodded and then softened. “Be careful with him Steve. If this goes south, he’s got a lot more to lose than you do.” 

Steve looked at her for a long moment, and he could see the worry in her eyes. He understood it, but it still hurt a little that she didn’t completely trust him not to hurt Tony. 

Not that he could blame her of course. 

… 

“Tony, have you got a minute?” 

Tony turned around distractedly and then blinked when he saw the soldiers standing awkwardly by the door to the workshop. He hadn’t seen them for a couple of days. 

“Sure. What can I do for you?” 

“Can we just… go eat and talk?” Steve suggested. “Please. I know I don’t deserve to have you hear me out but… please Tony. Just… one meal and if you tell us to back off then, we will, I swear.” 

Tony frowned. “Erm. Is… this a conversation that can be public or… should I have JARVIS order something to the penthouse?” 

“Actually, you could… come to our floor?” Bucky suggested. “I’ll cook. Italian?” 

“Sure,” Tony replied, stretching the word unsurely. “What time?” 

“Seven?” 

Tony nodded. “You heard that, J.” 

“Yes, Sir.” 

“We’ll leave you too it.” 

Tony nodded and turned back to his work until the door closed and then he dropped his head to the table. 

“J, call Rhodey.” 

There was a dial tone, and then Rhodey’s voice filled the room and Tony managed to push out a breath. 

“Tones? What’s wrong?” 

“Steve and Bucky were just here,” Tony said quietly. “They said they wanted to eat and talk, and Bucky’s cooking and… why does it sound so date-y, Rhodey? I don’t… I don’t understand what they’re doing!” 

“Do you need me to come? I’ll go in your place and kick them through the window if you want, Tones.” 

Tony snorted despite himself. “When did you get so violent? I swear you never used to be this violent.” 

“When super soldiers started fucking around with  _ my best friend, _ ” Rhodey growled. “Do you want to go?” 

“They said that they’ll leave me alone after if I ask them too so… I think I should?” 

“Okay. You call me straight after, you hear me?” 

“I hear you.” 

“And if they hurt you, I will dead them.” 

“You can’t dead Captain America, Honeybear. That’s not a thing.” 

“I told you before, Tones. It’s not Captain America I’m interested in. I can dead Steve Rogers.” 

Tony chuckled and the call ended, but he felt a little better. “Tell me when it’s six, J, so I can get a shower and get changed.” 

… 

Tony knocked on the door awkwardly at eight minutes past seven. Steve answered it almost before he’d taken his hand away, and he blinked at him for a moment before standing back to let him in. It was awkward until they sat down and Tony got a whiff of the pasta Bucky had cooked. 

“That smells fantastic,” he admitted. 

Bucky smiled at him. “I like cooking.” 

They all seemed to settle a little bit, and soon, the three of them were sitting around a table laden with pasta, garlic bread and salad. 

“So… first of all, I owe you an apology,” Steve said, looking at Tony. 

Tony looked back but didn’t say anything. 

“The way I behaved when I first found Bucky again was abhorrent. I honestly meant to sit down with you and talk, and then I didn’t and I just kept on not doing it and… Tony, I have no excuse for that. I was awful to you, and honestly… it was the shittiest thing I could have done. 

“I need you to know that you were never just an easy lay for me, or a warm body to fill my bed. I had, have, feelings for you, Tony, and… it was never just sex for me. When I found out about Bucky, I got so single minded, and it was wrong, and I’m so sorry for that.” 

Tony looked down at the bowl of pasta and sighed. While it was nice to finally be having the conversation they should have had months before, it was just too little too late. Tony didn’t really know what he was supposed to— 

“What do you mean, you have feelings for me?” he asked, looking back up as all of Steve’s words finally registered in his mind. 

“That was the other thing I, we, wanted to speak to you about. I realised, fairly recently, that I… I love you. And Buck… he really likes you too, Tony. We wanted… we wondered if… we’d like to date you. If that’s something you’d like to do too.” 

Tony frowned and sat back in his seat. 

“You could have saved this until after we’d eaten, Steve, he’s lost his appetite now,” Bucky said, trying to tease some lightness back into the room and failing dismally.

Tony sighed. “I… none of this makes sense.” 

“What doesn’t make sense?”  

“All of it,” Tony said leaning forwards. “You don’t have feelings for me, and you don’t even know me!” 

He gestured to them both respectively and then sat back again. “I don’t need pity dates or pity sex because you feel bad that you didn’t speak to me when we stopped having sex. I’m over it, it’s fine. This… this isn’t fine. This is playing with my emotions and it’s not right!” 

“Tony, were not lying to you,” Bucky implored. “I can’t, and I won’t say I love you yet because I  _ won’t  _  lie to you, and you’re right, I don’t know you really well, but you can’t say I don’t know you. I know that you drink your coffee black the majority of the time but really you prefer it with a splash of milk and one sugar. I know that the only eat popcorn when Clint makes it, because he makes it exactly to your taste and nobody else can get it as right as he does. I know that when you have nightmares, you prefer Rhodes’ company, but you’ll also go to Bruce or Thor because they can both hold you properly until you stop shaking. I know that you love DUM-E, Butterfingers and U like they’re your own children and I know that you worship the ground Pepper walks on. I know that you don’t love Thai, but you’ll eat it whenever Thor asks for it, and I know that you prefer no onions on your pizza, which is why you share with Nat instead of Clint when we have pizza nights. I know that you enjoy your time in your workshop almost all fo the time, but your favourite projects are the ones that you can draw Bruce into because you like to work with him.” 

Tony stared. And stared. And stared. “What the hell, Barnes! How do you know all of that?” 

“Because I pay attention, Doll, in the same way that I can tell you all those things and more about Stevie. I won’t call it love until I’m sure, but you can’t say I’m not interested in you, Doll.” 

“Tony, I won’t promise that this will work. We might go out a few times and you’ll decide you’re not interested in us, or you’ll decide that you don’t want us and that… that’s okay too. You could walk away now and we wouldn’t think any less of you. If you just want to be friends, we’ll accept that,” Steve said earnestly. “But please don’t say no because you doubt our sincerity, or think it’s pity because it’s the furthest thing from that.” 

Tony fiddled with the edge of his shirt. He didn’t know what to say to them. He wanted them, both of them, to mean what they were saying, but he wasn’t sure he could trust them. 

Not with this. Not with his heart. 

“I’m not sleeping with you,” he murmured. 

“We’ll wait as long as it takes,” Bucky said softly. “And if you never want that, then that’s okay too. Okay?” 

Tony nodded once. “Okay. I. Okay. Slowly.” 

They both smiled gently at him, and Steve reached out to squeeze his hand. Tony allowed the contact and even managed to return the smile. 

“Think you could eat some more, Doll?” Bucky asked, nodding to the bowl. “I’ll get you some fresh if that’s gone cold.” 

“It’s… it’s fine. Still warm,” Tony replied after testing it. “It really is good. Where did you learn to cook like this?” 

Bucky smiled, and the conversation went from there. It was stilted at moments, and they stumbled a few times, but it was fine. Good even. 

Tony knew he was taking a chance, knew that he might regret it down the road, but… when they each kissed his cheek when it was time for him to leave, he though, just maybe, it would be worth it. 

He was still a fool in love, but maybe, fools could be happy too. 


End file.
